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SAN ANTONIO — A federal judge's ruling against Texas' ban on gay marriage is one of many signs that, as the Bob Dylan song goes, “the times, they are a-changin.' ”

Also feeding that perception was Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's veto, also on Wednesday, of legislation that would have allowed business owners, on religious grounds, to deny services to gay men, lesbians and others.

Reaction to historic sea change is often a tenacious and desperate grip on the status quo by those discomfited. The Arizona law was one such example.

Allegedly crafted after lawsuits against businesses by couples denied services in other states, what really drove the measure was the speed of change nationally on gay marriage.

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia's ruling Wednesday was one of at least six by federal judges around the country.

They follow a U.S. Supreme Court opinion last year that the federal Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional.

That opinion set the stage for the legal challenges that are really behind Arizona legislators' fears and their attempt to clothe discrimination in fine religious raiment.

And suddenly, the decision that the Texas Legislature — now out of session — meets every two years seems beyond wise. Less opportunity for mischief.

Sure, Brewer was motivated by the howls about lost dollars, including a lost Super Bowl. But even in this, progress was visible.

Businesses rose to oppose this bill. The state's two U.S. senators, who claim conservative values, did, too.

And at the end, even state legislators who voted for the bill were urging a Brewer veto.

Change is not happening fast enough for everyone, but it sure has the feel of inevitability about it. And this is true despite Attorney General Greg Abbott's appeal of Garcia's decision.